


Basement Dweller

by Zimothy



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Dib and Skoodge being buddies, Dib and Skoodge talk about Zim, Gen, Skoodge is wonderful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23446654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zimothy/pseuds/Zimothy
Summary: After having to drag Zim back to his base after a failed attempt at taking over the Earth, Dib finally formally meets the ex Invader who has been living in Zim's basement.
Relationships: Dib & Invader Skoodge, Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Invader Skoodge & Zim
Comments: 10
Kudos: 93





	Basement Dweller

It didn’t take long for Dib to figure out that there were other Irkens living in Zim’s base. 

Zim’s posse grew in numbers. First, there was Gir, and then Minimoose, and a mysterious third person who seemed less like a robot and more like an individual person. 

Upon entering Zim’s home he found that third person sitting in the “living room” with Gir. While Gir was immensely interested in what was on TV, the other person looked at the scary monkey show with a bit more skepticism, and then they saw Dib. 

“What have you two been up to?” They asked. 

Dib looked down at himself, his outfit disheveled, torn and tattered. His eyes then drifted over to Zim who he held by the ankle, sprawled out on the floor and equally as disheveled. 

“Zim mutated the school cafeteria food and I had to fight them off.” Dib explained in a tired and irritated voice. Sometimes being the only person who bothered to keep Zim in check was exhausting.

The other Irken nodded, it seemed they probably knew of that awful plan, “It was nice of you to bring him back. Zim made it sound like you’d turn him into Earth authorities and cut him open.”

Dib immediately grew defensive, “I would have! It’s just, his pak started glowing and blinking so I thought it wouldn’t really be worth exposing him if he was already dead.” 

The Irken stood up from the couch, “Something’s wrong with his pak? Let me see.” 

Dib dragged Zim over to the couch and the other Irken hopped up to get a better look, he seemed to recognize the problem immediately and looked at Dib with relief. 

“His pak was knocked a little out of place, I can fix that.” The Irken said. 

“He was getting thrown around a lot by those food monsters.” Dib recounted the events that had happened off-screen.

The Irken pressed his gloved claws around Zim’s pak and pushed it forward, a small click was heard and the blinking had stopped. 

“He’ll be fine, his pak just needs time to sync up with his body.” The Irken explained. 

“Oh, okay, that’s good…” Dib said quietly, watching as the stout little Irken walked into the kitchen area and back out with a blanket, draping it over Zim, Gir eagerly went under the covers with his master as well. 

“Do you want me to clean that jacket for you?” The other Irken offered, “There’s a washing machine in the basement area.”

This Irken was strangely…hospitable. Dib was being offered entrance further into Zim’s base, he was going to take up this opportunity while he could as normally Zim would scream at him to leave. 

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Dib removed his jacket and handed it to the Irken. 

“My name is Skoodge by the way.” The Irken introduced themselves. 

“I’m Dib.” He replied. 

Skoodge chuckled a bit, “I know you. Zim talks about you a lot.” 

Dib turned back to Zim on the couch and then to Skoodge with a nonchalant expression, “I’m sure he does.”

He was lead to wherever the basement was. Zim’s base was relatively small from its upper home level, but just below the surface was a labyrinth with all types of twists and turns. Dib wasn’t the least bit surprised that there were rooms he didn’t even know about. 

He followed Skoodge down each corridor, silently wishing he had thought to bring a camera along with him. They reached a small room where there was indeed a washing machine present. There was also a dryer and even some lawn equipment. 

“I’ve never seen Zim use any of this stuff.” Dib noted. 

“He doesn’t really come down here. He didn’t even know I was living here for a while.” Skoodge added, tossing Dib’s jacket into the washing machine with some added detergent, he seemed to be versed with the earthling ways of cleaning clothes. 

“So are you his roommate?” Dib asked. 

Skoodge paused in thought for a bit, “I guess I am.” 

“I hope you don’t mind me asking but…Why are you here?” Dib questioned bluntly, “I mean, I get Zim has been failing at his mission a lot, so are you here to help him or something?”

“No, I’m just staying here because I have nowhere else to be. I already completed my mission, I don’t want to destroy the Earth.” Skoodge explained. 

Dib glared at him with wide eyes and mouth agape, “You already successfully invaded a planet?!” He pointed accusingly. 

“I was the first one to complete it too.” Skoodge said rather proudly. 

“That’s terrifying! And amazing too, but mostly terrifying!” Dib exclaimed. 

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you think so.” Skoodge turned his attention to the jacket swirling around in the washing machine, “I was supposed to be rewarded, and I was excited about it. I had a whole speech planned on how it was possible for all short Irkens to overcome the odds and get the job done but…They shot me out of a canon and credited a taller Irken with my success.”

“Geez…I’m sorry.” Dib attempted to be comforting and apologetic. 

“Once I eventually got the message that my tallest didn’t respect me I just moved in with Zim. I gotta say, Earth is pretty cool. You can just do whatever you want with little to no repercussions.” Skoodge said, when he caught onto Dib’s unease, he added, “I don’t want to destroy this place. I only join in on Zim’s plans if he invites me…Between you and me, I don’t think Zim is going to destroy this place either.” 

“Won’t your tallest step in if they know how much he’s failing though?” Dib asked, Skoodge felt that he would have to answer this question eventually, and he had never spoken these thoughts out loud before…He felt grateful that Zim was upstairs and they were below the base in private. 

“The tallest aren’t coming here, they never will.” Skoodge admitted, “Zim’s mission is fake.” 

Dib blinked, “Huh?” 

“Zim was previously banished for the crimes he committed in Impending Doom I and to avoid getting him involved in Impending Doom II, the tallest just gave him random coordinates and a defective SIR and hoped that he’d just be flying around space aimlessly…Or drive directly into the sun. Those two outcomes were joked about a lot.” Skoodge said. 

Dib slowly sat down on the ground, feeling light-headed, “This whole time…” he said, then he looked at Skoodge, “So the Irkens never cared about Earth this whole time?”

Skoodge shrugged, “We didn’t know about Earth until Zim found it.”

“Just my luck…” Dib grumbled, “Wait, so if you know about this, how come Zim doesn’t? I mean, how can you hide something like a fake mission from him?”

Skoodge sighed, “How do I explain this to a different species…Zim isn’t normal.”

“Yeah, I got that much.” Dib added curtly. 

“I mean it, by Irken standards, Zim is defective.” Skoodge iterated, “He’s always been strange. While most Irkens are emotionally restraint and collected, Zim is prone to outbursts of extreme emotion. He’s never been able to accept failure and if he doesn’t like what he hears it just doesn’t register in his mind. He’s dangerous because our society isn’t equipped for his needs, honestly, if the Tallest just let go off the intergalactic conquest idea then Zim wouldn’t be so inclined to destroy everything for a warped sense of approval.” 

“Wow…How do you know so much about him?” Dib asked, he wished he had something to write notes down on.

“Zim and I knew each other since smeethood, we went to the Irken Military Academy together.” Skoodge said, “Zim may have always been strange, but he always had so many ideas and he had the confidence to act out on them. All of that, and he was so small…”

Skoodge smiled as he reminisced on how Zim would eagerly tell Skoodge his plans of escaping to the surface, asking him to come with him, and Skoodge was terrified but excited at the same time. 

They’d run off and do crazy things together, Skoodge could barely keep up, but he still followed. No matter what trouble they got in, it was refreshing to rebel, to not always do what was told. 

Zim had the courage to do so much despite his height, and over time, Skoodge felt that same confidence in his height as well. It was dumb that short irkens never got respect, that there were often given low positions, and their accomplishments overshadowed. 

“I know Zim is a danger to himself and to others sometimes, and I know that he’s probably gotten you in trouble on various occasions.” Skoodge spoke in a serious tone. 

Dib silently nodded his head. 

“But I don’t think Zim is so bad. Everyone on Irk is convinced that he’s an absolute menace, and they’re right, he has destroyed a lot of stuff…” Skoodge said, “But Zim would never view me and my accomplishments as insignificant just because I’m short, and I know he doesn’t see you as crazy like how your other classmates see you. He thinks you’re smart and crafty, he sees you as someone to take seriously.” 

Dib was lost in thought for a moment. Sure, they were bitter rivals, but that rivalry quickly became an important part of Dib’s life. After years of being ostracized by everyone around him, Zim came in and treated him like someone he was equally matched with. He saw in Dib something many others did not, and it strangely made him feel confident. 

“So I know Zim is sometimes hard to handle sometimes, but if you can, please continue to keep up this rivalry thing you guys have going on. It seriously means the world to him.” Skoodge requested, watching the washing machine slowly come to a stop, he pulled the jacket out and subsequently threw it in the drying machine right next to it. 

“Don’t you think Zim should know the truth?” Dib asked. 

“Someday, maybe, but I don’t think he can handle it now.” Skoodge answered, “His way of coping with anything bad is persistent ignorance. Multiple people have tried to tell him about the fake machine, but he just won’t believe it, I don’t think he even remembers being re-encoded and banished. He just pushed it so far back in his mind that it’s like it never happened.” 

“He sounds like he has multiple mental disorders.” Dib tried to relate Zim’s issues back to what he could understand. 

Skoodge shrugged, “We call it being defective.”

How sad, that someone who could not fit into a society strict requirements, that they were disregarded so horribly. 

Dib must have been sitting in thought for a bit because the next thing he knew, Skoodge was tapping his shoulder, inquiring if he was okay with all the information that was just unloaded on him. 

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“I feel better knowing that the Earth is kind of safe, I know I’ll still be busy preventing Zim’s plans from getting too deadly, but wow…Those leaders he worshipped so much, he really thought they were coming.” Dib said. 

That would hurt him so much if Zim acknowledged that. Dib had been under the impression that these tall leaders were some sort of ‘father figure’, and while Dib had had his own gripes with his father, he knew at the end of the day that his father loved him. 

Zim was not loved. 

Dib wish he knew this kind of information beforehand.

“The farther away he is from the tallest, the better.” Skoodge added, “I just hope the more time he spends here, the more relaxed he’ll get over time. But his desire to receive validation from his leaders, that’s really holding him back.”

The dry cycle quickly ended and Dib’s jacket was now clean and warm. Dib was eager to put it back on. 

He pulled his arms through the sleeves, “Thank you, Skoodge.” 

Skoodge was…Nice, for an Irken. He seemed aware of the flaws of Irken society. He suffered for trying to fit into the impossible Irken standard and, unlike Zim, he was able to move on to more independent things. 

Would it even be possible for Zim to move on? How long had Zim been the infamous ‘defect’ of his species? How much beratement did he go through to cause him to completely ignore negativity, how much did he go through to completely shut down at even a hint of failure. 

Skoodge was happy to hear Dib gives him thanks, his grin alone pulled Dib out of his thoughts.

“No problem!” Skoodge said, patting Dib’s back, “And hey, I’m glad we could have this talk. You know, your attention means a lot to Zim too.” 

Dib let out a laugh, “Okay, now I know that’s a joke.”

“I’m serious! Next to the tallest, he talks about you a lot!” Skoodge assured him as they walked up to the elevator and back into the house area together. 

“You Irkens are weird.” Dib said. 

“I think humans are pretty strange too.” Skoodge replied. 

Once in the house area again they saw that Zim was now sitting up on the couch with the blanket wrapped tightly around him and over his head, his chin rested on Gir who was under the blanket with him. 

It seemed like he was just quietly watching TV with Gir, not too concerned with the events of the day. 

His eyes locked with Dib and he let out a shrill scream. Dib simply stood there and took the verbal assault on his ears, he should have figured that would happen eventually. 

“GET OUT!” Zim shouted, he attempted to stand up but as soon as he left the couch he flopped onto the ground and straight onto his face, he got up with no reaction to what had happened and continued to walk up to Dib to yell at him, “Get out of my base!” He finished his first statement. 

“I was just leaving.” Dib assured him calmly, not feeling up to a screaming match with all the new personal info he gained on Zim. 

“What are you doing here? How did you get here?” Zim questioned like an interrogator. 

“I brought you here!” Dib shouted back in retaliation, “and I get no ‘thank yous’ for it either.” 

“What is he doing here?” Zim asked Skoodge, as if he wanted a different answer. 

“He did bring you back, your pak got disconnected-“ Skoodge tried to answer. 

“LIES!” Zim shouted a claim, “As you can see my pak is perfectly fine.” 

“Because Skoodge fixed it, you moron!” Dib was now shouting from across the room by the door, “You should thank him too. Thank your friends once in a while. I’ll see you later.” 

Dib left and Zim looked at Skoodge, completely perplexed. 

“What is that human going on about, Skoodge, you know humans aren’t allowed in the base.” Zim lectured. 

“I understand.” Skoodge sat back down on the couch next to Gir, “I just thought I’d offer to clean up his jacket.” 

Zim sat back up on the couch as well, he looked at the blanket for a minute before deciding he wanted to be under it again. 

The two of them with a little robot in-between them partook in mindless human entertainment. That was one thing that the Irkens didn’t mind warming up to, the rest of Earth would be taken in stride.

**Author's Note:**

> Funnily enough, this was my first IZ fic ever. I edited it a bit before posting. I just think Dib and Skoodge could have an interesting friendship. Skoodge can be treated as a competent Invader and have his 'accomplishments' recognized while Dib can learn more about Irkens and Zim. Also, Skoodge is a great character and thankfully one of the few people that seems to be pleasant towards Zim, they have a 'friendship' that Zim desperately needs to keep. #BringBackInvaderSkoodge


End file.
